Tsukishiro looked at Chairman Sakayanagi with some displeasure.
Chairman Sakayanagi, who had clearly been at a disadvantage in their conversation just moments ago, had surprisingly regained the upper hand in the conversation due to the arrival of a young girl.
This made it difficult to bring up the request to expel Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
"Sakayanagi-senpai's reminder is correct; I was rash just now."
Tsukishiro, understanding the situation, changed his address for Sakayanagi to "senpai," clearly intending to claim some connection.
After all, both of them had worked under Ayanokoji-sensei, so calling him "senpai" still carried some association.
Seeing Tsukishiro's discomfiture, Chairman Sakayanagi remained calm. He knew that Tsukishiro was not someone who would easily lower his stance. The reason for this was partly because he had caught Tsukishiro in a verbal slip, and partly, he probably had a favor to ask.
"Aren't you going to reintroduce yourself?"
Amane rotated her chair so that her entire body faced Tsukishiro.
Amane leaned back in the chair, looking lazy, her previous demure, well-bred demeanor completely gone. Normally, Tsukishiro wouldn't even bother to glance at a child like her.
But now, with her identity and family background laid out, even Tsukishiro, who had illegally lived in the shadows, had to lower his proud head to introduce himself to Amane.
"My apologies, I am Tsukishiro Tsunenari, currently employed under Ayanokoji-sensei."
Tsukishiro tried his best to make his voice neither humble nor arrogant.
But his bent waist and lowered head simply wouldn't straighten.
"Ayanokouji Atsuomi, huh? Is he not dead yet?"
"Thank you for your concern, Ayanokoji-sensei is in very good health."
Tsukishiro's respectful demeanor made Amane feel a bit disgusted.
She lost interest in continuing the conversation after only a couple of brief exchanges with him.
"Speaking of which, Tsukishiro, you came to see me about something today, didn't you?"
Chairman Sakayanagi offered a lifeline to Tsukishiro, who was still standing as if being punished.
Tsukishiro quickly sat back down.
"The matter is this: Ayanokoji-sensei's child was admitted to Kou-Iku without the guardian's permission. Ayanokoji-sensei believes this does not comply with Kou-Iku's admission regulations and goes against the wishes of Ayanokoji-sensei, the guardian. Therefore, he hopes that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Ayanokoji-sensei's child, can be expelled."
After speaking, Tsukishiro subconsciously glanced at Amane.
He only breathed a slight sigh of relief after seeing no change in Amane's expression. As long as it didn't involve the Miyako Family, the Miyako Family shouldn't intervene.
Moreover, expelling a student was just a matter of a single word.
Sakayanagi also had no reason to refuse him.
Amane, who was nearby, was quite surprised to learn that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was actually the son of that scoundrel Ayanokouji Atsuomi.
She had long wanted to cause trouble for Ayanokouji Atsuomi. Now his son was her classmate, wouldn't that make it even easier to act?
What?
Why target Ayanokouji Atsuomi?
Because that scoundrel was the one who proposed the White Room plan to Amane's father, and used Amane as a test subject to experiment whether the White Room's training methods could contribute to the growth of a genius.
It was that guy who ruined Amane's childhood.
Even Amane's mother couldn't accept such methods and angrily returned to the Kiryuin Family.
This left Amane with almost no memories of her parents from her childhood.
All she had was endless studying and daily training.
It was precisely because of this that Amane could never forgive Ayanokouji Atsuomi, who ruined everything for her, and that scoundrel father.
"As long as a student does not violate school rules, Kou-Iku always respects the student's personal wishes regarding whether to withdraw."
What neither Amane nor Tsukishiro expected was that Chairman Sakayanagi flatly rejected Tsukishiro's request.
"But his admission itself did not comply with regulations."
Tsukishiro frowned.
He was too confident in his ability to persuade Sakayanagi.
So, he hadn't prepared thoroughly before coming here.
Once the discussion turned to whether it complied with regulations, Tsukishiro was clearly hesitant.
"No, no, no, Ayanokoji-kun's admission complies with regulations. Whether it was the entrance exam or the interview, Ayanokoji-kun's scores met Kou-Iku's requirements. Moreover, I spoke with him individually, and his personal wish is to study here. He is old enough to engage in social activities and choose his own school based on his own ideas, without needing any guardian's opinion."
Chairman Sakayanagi, as expected of someone from the Sakayanagi family, a leader in the field of education, immediately put the unprepared Tsukishiro at a great disadvantage.
"Are you refusing Ayanokoji-sensei's proposal?"
Tsukishiro, seeing that the soft approach wouldn't work, immediately changed his tactic.
He used officialese with a hint of menace to force Chairman Sakayanagi to make a choice.
"That's right."
Chairman Sakayanagi was not intimidated by Tsukishiro's threat in the slightest.
Ayanokouji Atsuomi had already lost his influence; although he had teamed up with Amane's father to trick Onijima, that was merely a fleeting resurgence.
The old hand Miyako Bang Dian would not give these new players any chances.
Therefore, he no longer needed to submit to Ayanokouji Atsuomi's will.
"You'd better think carefully. The position of Kou-Iku Chairman can be replaced at any time. Besides, I remember your daughter's health has always been poor since childhood. You should pay a little more attention, lest any accident occurs and you regret it for a long time."
Tsukishiro revealed a cruel smile.
As someone who had always been in the shadows, Tsukishiro had always been responsible for doing the dirty work that important figures disdained.
He had seen too many people like Sakayanagi.
He had dealt with too many of them, to the point where it could even be said to be effortless.
"Are you threatening me?"
Chairman Sakayanagi looked calmly at Tsukishiro.
"You're joking, how could I dare to threaten you? I'm just worried about your daughter's personal safety. After all, Arisu's health has always been much worse than average since childhood. Even if she unfortunately passed away, people would probably just lament that the Sakayanagi Family's genius had withered... wouldn't they?"
Tsukishiro's threat was now openly stated.
But Amane couldn't understand where Tsukishiro got the confidence to speak like that.
"Is it really appropriate to say these things in front of me?"
Amane's gaze turned to the confident Tsukishiro.
"These matters should be mere trifles to you. After all, I've heard even more terrifying rumors about the Miyako Family. And you've also seen that we haven't done anything to harm Sakayanagi's interests, yet he inexplicably obstructs Ayanokoji sensei from letting his child withdraw from school. Such a chairman would only affect Kou-Iku's development and reputation, wouldn't he?"
Tsukishiro smiled triumphantly. In their circle, interests came first.
If one party interfered without harming the interests of the other, it would be tacitly considered deliberate obstruction and hostility.
Therefore, Tsukishiro was certain that even if Chairman Sakayanagi complained to the Miyako Family, at most, they would just send someone to warn Tsukishiro or Ayanokoji sensei. The Miyako Family would never rashly increase their enemies over such a minor matter.
But what he didn't expect was...
All of his schemes required others to abide by the commonly accepted rules to achieve the desired effect.
And Amane was never someone willing to abide by so-called rules.
Slap!!!!
The loud sound of a slap made Chairman Sakayanagi, who was about to get angry, open his mouth in shock.
Amane, with her arm still raised, looked indifferently at Tsukishiro, who had fallen to the ground.
"I'm not interested in playing 'important people's' games with you. What I believe in is: whoever intends to lay a hand on my friend, I'll punch them first."
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